Does anybody take America seriously over its alleged free speech wishes? The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, praised the role of social networks such as Twitter in promoting freedom – at the same time as the US government was in court seeking to invade the privacy of Twitter users. Lawyers for civil rights organisations…
Showing all posts tagged Twitter
What New Delhi can learn from Cairo
My following article is published by leading Indian magazine Tehelka: The Middle East is the region where global empires lavishly exercise their chequebook. Since the Second World War, America has bribed, cajoled and backed autocratic regimes in the name of stability. Israel, self-described as the only democracy in the area, has been insulated from the…
US definition of web freedom; content that we like
How noble is the Obama administration, pledging to support citizens in repressive regimes (many of which are run by US-backed thugs but why quibble with such details?): Days after Facebook and Twitter added fuel to a revolt in Egypt, the Obama administration plans to announce a new policy on Internet freedom, designed to help people…
What Twitter has done to understanding the Arab earthquake
What a glorious and fascinating study. The inter-connectivity of Tweets on Egypt from the English and Arabic worlds. Kovas Boguta did it (via Mondoweiss). Read on.
Journalists, don’t be afraid to rely on Arabs to tell you Egyptian truth
Here’s an idea for a Western newspaper trying to report in Egypt. Rather than sending your own correspondent who doesn’t get anywhere near the action – or know any of the important writers, bloggers, Tweeters etc – you actually rely on other, perhaps indigenous sources, who are seeing the real action on the streets. Not…
Washington, backing Facebook in Egypt isn’t quite enough
Here’s some free advice to the US State Department; trying to keep Twitter or Facebook or other social networking sites alive inside dictatorships is a fine task but have you stopped for a minute and wondered what citizens think when your own government has backed these brutes? The State Department has been working furiously and…
Not a Twitter revolution
Parvez Sharma: #Egypt became strong only AFTER #internet etc died 80 million people? 1% have smartpnones THE POOR DONT TWEET They walk into bombs & bullets
Google opens its heart a little in the Islamic Republic
During research for my book The Blogging Revolution, a great deal of time was spent examining just what companies such as Google actually do in Iran. The company has posted the latest information: During the protests that erupted in Iran following the disputed Presidential election in June 2009, the central government in Tehran deported all…
Repeat after me; there was no Wikileaks revolution in Tunisia
Jillian York asks the ever-eager Western press to take a long, cold shower and actually ask Tunisians themselves if the internet/Twitter/Facebook/Wikileaks seriously contributed to the downfall of President Ben Ali. In a word, no.
The Supreme Leader may have nimble fingers
Is the Iranian regime trying to be a hypocritical laughing stock? A Twitter account believed to belong to Iran‘s supreme leader has triggered controversy among Iranians whose own access to social networking websites remains blocked. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the man who has the final word in Iran, has come under intense criticism from Iran’s many…